The Cathedral Restaurant makes a Souris d’Agneau or Lamb Shank that I have coveted but always forget to order when I go there. Nothing for it but to make it at home, along with the celebrated Mogettes de Vendee or Coco beans.

I attempted to make these earlier in the summer but they were overcooked and not quite the superb beans I had in a soup in the Vendee. This time I aced it! I immediately set 2 mini casseroles aside for the Parrets and added a small piece of lamb shank.

These are wonderful beans. Correctly cooked, they should be firm on the outside with a creamy interior. This time, inspired by http://www.cowgirlchef.com, I cooked these with onions, garlic and a handful of pork rillauds.

The two lamb shanks were cooked in my clay pot with a rich sauce of wine and tomatoes.

Lamb Shanks with Coco Beans

2 lamb shanks

Flour

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 fresh thyme sprigs

1 large fresh rosemary sprig

5 or 6 fresh parsley sprigs

10 ounces red wine

1 can diced tomatoes

12 ounces veal or chicken broth

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup pork rillauds or ham hock, coarsely chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups of shucked coco beans

1 large bay leaf

Flour the lamb shanks and brown in the olive oil in a skillet. Remove and put inside a pre-soaked clay pot.

Add the onions, shallots and garlic cloves to the same skillet you used for the lamb and cook until the onion is soft. Add the thyme, parsley, rosemary and red wine and boil for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Add the broth and cook for 5 minutes. Pour over lamb shanks. Put the top on the clay pot and cook in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour.

To cook the beans, brown the rillauds in the olive oil, add the onions, garlic and cook until the onion is soft. Add the beans, bay leaf and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

Jim, I don’t know if your wife has had New Zealand lamb, which is a sweet, tender piece of lamb. If she has and still doesn’t like it, then substitute a hock of ham. This will work well and be not the same but good. Thanks for visiting my site!